Honorable Mention: Aquib Talib... kind of a check in both columns for the Bucs.

Edit: I'm a dope and was thinking McCoy didn't qualify. Not sure what I was thinking. Anyway, I'm giving the edge to David over Winston only because there's still a chance Jameis doesn't take the next step. I don't believe that will be the case though, and if/when he does it will put Jameis at the top of the list.

Other than McCoy it was a very dry spell for about 15 years. Then we got David, Evans, Kwon, Winston, Marpet, Smith, and it's looking like Howard, J Evans, and Godwin, possibly Beckwith. Strange how that changed...

BustsDoug Martin- I know this will shock some people but getting two years out of a first round RB is a bust. Sure, I guess two years is better than no years, but he also got a second freaking contract. He's essentially the Michael Clayton of RBs. Da'Quan Bowers- this guys supposed to be the steal of the draft, a guy talked about as the #1 overall pick at one point. Then we went and got his exact replacement in Spence.Aguayo- Really, there's no reason he shouldn't be on everyone's list. Special mention: Johnathan Banks, remember him? Exactly.

BoomLVD- Easily the best pick we've made in the last ten years. Remember Barron and Martin were drafted ahead of him. lolEvans - Add to the fact that no one saw this coming. Someone can link to old posts but I don't remember a single person even mentioning Evans as an option for us in that draft. It was like Mike Clayton draft moment except it worked.Mike Williams- Yeah, I'll go ahead and put him here. Sure there are guys like Winston or McCoy but when you are a top 3 pick you are expected to be great so your "boom" I guess in naturally smaller. Mike Williams gave us a real great boom from the 4 round a few years ago. Guy went on two have a better career than Michael Clayton in half the time. Nuts. Too bad he fizzled out early, what happened?Special mention: Mason Foster, when a third rounder gives you four years and 350 tackles, that's a good return.

Doctor wrote:Evans - Add to the fact that no one saw this coming. Someone can link to old posts but I don't remember a single person even mentioning Evans as an option for us in that draft. It was like Mike Clayton draft moment except it worked.

No hate for Myron Lewis? Third round pick in 2010. One career start, eighteen tackles, three PBUs. And that's it. He's way worse than Martin or VH3 or Barron or Freeman. They all at least did productive things while they were here.

My criteria for best/worst would be guys taken in the first three rounds. Guys selected that high are expected to produce. I'm not going to knock the selection of later guys like Xavier Fulton or Cory Boyd.

1 - Gerald McCoy - first round pick, third overall who has been one of the best at his position for almost all of the 2010s; 6-time Pro Bowl, 4-Time All-Pro selection while being surrounding by next-to-nothing in terms of talent for the duration of his success2 - Lavonte David - a second round pick who's been one of the best 4-3 OLBs since his first game in 20123 - Mike Evans - first round pick, seventh overall, already considered one of the best receivers in franchise history at 24; some consider him to be the best; should be considered the best unanimously in the next year or two; first receiver in franchise history with four straight 1,000-yard receiving seasons, and one of only three players to have four straight 1,000-yards from scrimmage in general (Wilder & Dunn)

Busts

1a - Dexter Jackson - second round pick who one of the worst draft choices of the team's history, which is very hard list to be included in; played scared for a total of 8 games1b - Aguayo - another terrible second round pick on special teams who was at least with the team the entire singular season he was here3 - Da'Quan Bowers - while it wasn't his decision, the fact that the team decided to let Michael Bennett walk in his prime had a lot to do with their outlook of Bowers back then; once showed enough promise to be considered as a potential NUMBER ONE OVERALL PICK in 2011 somewhere between 2009-2010; showed flashes minimally, showed nothing the other 98 percent of the time

Given only three choices, I looked him over. His 2010 & 2012 performances are enough for me to have Dexter Jackson the Lesser, Aguayo, Bowers, and probably guys like Gaines Adams, Sabby Piscitelli, and Brian Price ahead (or below) him.

Granted Freeman's demise set this franchise back more than just about anyone, but going just by his performances on the field, I give him pass. I am rooting for his CFL career to take shape as we speak.

Zero hate here. He’s one of my heroes. No idea how he kept making the roster and then one year, every time they likely would have cut him, an injury to someone else saved him. He was a true survivor. But yeah, terrible player.

Zero hate here. He’s one of my heroes. No idea how he kept making the roster and then one year, every time they likely would have cut him, an injury to someone else saved him. He was a true survivor. But yeah, terrible player.

I remember after the heartbreaking loss late in the 2010 against the Lions, Lewis was highly praised for some of his play against Calvin Johnson, particularly a pass Lewis broke up in the end zone intended for Johnson.

I always felt that him being a 6-2, 205 lb. cornerback who could move, coupled with that one pass break up, bought him all of 2011, all of 2012, and most of the 2013 off-season. Heck, he was signed by the Lions in August 2013 right after the Bucs cut him, so I felt like that one play earned him a second chance.

But no, I honestly don't think I would consider a 3rd round pick for this. Way too many players to include in the top 3 that were busts in the top two rounds to consider him. The only way I would consider a 3rd or 4th round pick is if they didn't even make the team out of training camp their rookie year.

I think Adrian Clayborn needs to be considered. Perhaps his 6-sack game this past season erased everyone's minds of how that accounts for 20% of his career sack total heading into 2018.

With the Bucs-4 seasons-missed 28 of 64 games-had 13 sacks in the 36 games played-did not record a sack in 2012 or 2014, in the seasons that he missed 13 and 15 games, respectively

Side not: Never realized he played in the new uniforms (the 1 game he played and got injured in 2014).

-Also a side note: I would probably consider a 3rd rounder on this list if it was someone like Chaz Green, who gave up 5 of the 6 sacks to Clayborn, then did not play another snap the rest of the season.

If someone self-destructs off the field or gets injured, I don't consider them busts. I hated the Freeman pick when they made it but he turned out to be very good until he fell apart off the field. ASJ drank himself off the team. Bowers was only available because of the possibility that his knee would limit his career. It was a risk-reward pick that didn't pay off.

I have to go with McCoy, Evans, and David as my top 3. Bottom 3 would be Dexter Jackson (possibly the worst second round pick this team has ever made), Aguayo, and since no one mentioned him, Jonathan Banks. That dude was supposed to be pretty damn good coming out of college and never did anything.

McCoy, Evans and David are easily the biggest booms. The busts I go with...

Dexter Jackson - This guy was just scared of playing football. It puzzles me that he was able to be drafted in the 2nd round when he's that scared of being hit. I understand he was fast and made some plays in a huge upset win when Appalachian State beat Michigan, but the man was terrified of taking a hit. How does that get hidden or swept under the rug during the draft process? Unless going to the NFL just messed with his head, either way he was embarrassing and a horrible investment of a 2nd round pick.

Roberto Aguayo - This honestly goes without saying.

Da'Quan Bowers - I remember this dude being one of the more polarizing prospects of the 2011 draft. Early in the draft process many people had Carolina selecting him and not Cam Newton at #1 overall. He fell so far becuase of a knee issue that had many GMs feeling his career was going to be cut short. The Bucs gamble on him in round two and his knee NEVER ended up being an issue. He just sucked and didn't cut it on the field. To make things worse, the Bucs decided to let the best pass rusher this team has had since Simeon Rice just WALK so Bowers could start.

There was a lot more candidates for the bust category unfortunately. All 3 of my picks for that were 2nd rounders, and my honorable mention (Brian Price) was also a 2nd. Outside of Lavonte, we'd had some terrible decisions in the 2nd round lol.

Are you three serious? I don't recall anyone saying Evans. Almost everyone was saying Donald. The few who weren't were saying Mack. A few might have wanted Barr. Anyone who was calling for a WR predicted Watkins or OBJ. Evans came out of nowhere.

Are you three serious? I don't recall anyone saying Evans. Almost everyone was saying Donald. The few who weren't were saying Mack. A few might have wanted Barr. Anyone who was calling for a WR predicted Watkins or OBJ. Evans came out of nowhere.

No one really banged the drum for OBJ at all. A few said/hoped we would trade up for Watkins, but it was consensus that he wouldn't make it to us (same with Mack). A few wanted Barr and Donald, but Evans was who most thought we would draft. I wanted Taylor Lewan, but thought we would take Evans.

edit: I think the disconnect is coming from there used to be completely different posters in the draft forum vs the TD forum. The TD forum had a small sample of draft stuff right before the draft, but it was mostly kept separate. MJW was the first to say Mack was a stud and RBF was pretty adamant that Evans made Johnny Football at A&M. That's the year we had Secrets grace our presence.

Are you three serious? I don't recall anyone saying Evans. Almost everyone was saying Donald. The few who weren't were saying Mack. A few might have wanted Barr. Anyone who was calling for a WR predicted Watkins or OBJ. Evans came out of nowhere.

That's how I remember it. Even Johnny Football had a few supporters at the time IIRC. But it mostly broke down to the few who prayed Clowney would fall, some Mack fangirls (MJW), some Barr fan boys, some for Watkins or Donald.

Are you three serious? I don't recall anyone saying Evans. Almost everyone was saying Donald. The few who weren't were saying Mack. A few might have wanted Barr. Anyone who was calling for a WR predicted Watkins or OBJ. Evans came out of nowhere.

No one really banged the drum for OBJ at all. A few said/hoped we would trade up for Watkins, but it was consensus that he wouldn't make it to us (same with Mack). A few wanted Barr and Donald, but Evans was who most thought we would draft. I wanted Taylor Lewan, but thought we would take Evans.

edit: I think the disconnect is coming from there used to be completely different posters in the draft forum vs the TD forum. The TD forum had a small sample of draft stuff right before the draft, but it was mostly kept separate. MJW was the first to say Mack was a stud and RBF was pretty adamant that Evans made Johnny Football at A&M. That's the year we had Secrets grace our presence.

I can confirm this. Every mock draft had us taking Evans. I think most here did as well but people here and there were hoping for someone else.

uscbucsfan wrote:No one really banged the drum for OBJ at all. A few said/hoped we would trade up for Watkins, but it was consensus that he wouldn't make it to us (same with Mack). A few wanted Barr and Donald, but Evans was who most thought we would draft. I wanted Taylor Lewan, but thought we would take Evans.

edit: I think the disconnect is coming from there used to be completely different posters in the draft forum vs the TD forum. The TD forum had a small sample of draft stuff right before the draft, but it was mostly kept separate. MJW was the first to say Mack was a stud and RBF was pretty adamant that Evans made Johnny Football at A&M. That's the year we had Secrets grace our presence.

I can confirm this. Every mock draft had us taking Evans. I think most here did as well but people here and there were hoping for someone else.

Yep...

Many "wanted" someone else, but most agreed Evans would be the pick....